Pepper Jack?s Mexican Grill Does It Right (Business Lunch)

Pepper Jack’s Mexican Grill
Bentonville
Word of mouth is one thing, but seeing people crammed into Pepper Jack’s Mexican Grill proved to us well before the first bite that this Bentonville eatery was doing something right.

Patrons shouldn’t plan on getting a table right away if they venture into Pepper Jack’s during the lunch break for employees at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Nevertheless, we were pleasantly surprised to see how quickly we did get served after getting through the cafeteria-style line that one of our guests likened to a Mexican food version of a Subway sandwich shop.

Our first diner, who usually has a hearty appetite, thought he would take it easy and order just one seasoned steak burrito ($6). He selected the herb and garlic tortilla from the five choices. After the employee added the diner’s choices of fillings, this burrito was like none he had ever seen before.

It looked like it was as big as a brick, except longer, and was folded so professionally that he was able to munch it down to the last couple of bites before it collapsed.

There were plenty of large chunks of steak inside, and the burrito satisfied him for the rest of the day.

Another in our group ordered a spicy ground beef burrito ($5) and was also astonished at the meal’s size.

“The wrap would be too large for some people,” said one diner.

We agreed that Pepper Jack’s Web site, www.bigfatburritos.com (still under construction at last visit), is appropriately named.

The tortillas are 12 inches long, and the employees only skimp on the fillings at the customer’s request. Also, Pepper Jack’s gives diners the option to eat its burritos in a bowl with a knife and fork rather than the two-handed approach.

Another guest ordered the spicy ground beef tacos ($4.40). For that price, you get four corn tacos or three flour tacos.

While perhaps not as filling as the mammoth burritos, the meal satisfied this diner as well.

There are also fajita burritos, taco salad and five different versions of nachos available. The nachos come in native style ($4.25), spicy ground beef ($5), Adobo chicken ($5), seasoned steak ($6) and grilled vegetables ($4.60).

We definitely will return to Pepper Jack’s when we’re especially hungry and not especially worried about eating an early or late lunch to avoid the Wal-Mart crowd.